I don’t go to movies often and didn’t pay much attention to the Oscars on Sunday evening, but I read on one website that there was a small earthquake just after people started to arrive on the red carpet. The quake measured 3.9 on the Richter scale, which isn’t very powerful. People who live in Los Angeles are used to earthquakes. Outside of Alaska, Southern California is the most seismically active area in the US. One article I read said that the region experiences an earthquake on the average of every three minutes. The week before the Oscars quake, 36 earthquakes occurred in the LA area, most under magnitude 2.0. Around 15 to 20 events exceed magnitude 4.0 annually in the LA area.

According to Natural Resources Canada, we have had three small earthquakes over the past three weeks. On February 21, there was a 4.7 temblor about 40 miles north of our home. On February 24, there was an earthquake of magnitude five off the west coast of Vancouver Island. And yesterday morning at about 5 am, there was a 4.1 quake with the epicenter on the west side of the tip of Orcas Island, which is just 25 miles from where we live and easily visible from the beach of our bay.

None of those earthquakes caused any damage. None were large enough to trigger a tsunami warning. And I didn’t feel any of them.

I’ve felt earthquakes before. During our visits to Japan, we experienced more significant earthquakes, including one that shook our daughter’s home for over a minute and rattled its shelves.

Experts say that earthquakes are not unusual and that we should not be alarmed. They do use the occasion of earthquakes to remind people to have an earthquake kit handy and learn what to do in the event of an earthquake. We have a blizzard kit that we used to keep in our car during the winter in South Dakota, with a small stove, candles, and freeze-dried food. That, plus a water bottle and a sleeping bag, would keep us alive and comfortable should we need to wait for rescue if our vehicle became stuck in the hills. We spent the night in our pickup truck once but experienced no significant distress. As near as I can figure, the blizzard kit will work fine as an earthquake kit if we freshen up the freeze-dried food supply.

We have earthquake straps on our water heater and a sturdy frame restraining a 50-gallon rain barrel in our backyard. We’re likely good with water in the event of an earthquake. And our pantry is well stocked. If we were to have an extended power outage caused by an earthquake, we’d need to eat the food in our freezer, so that would keep us going for a while longer. Since we live in a neighborhood with homes close together, I suspect we’d end up sharing. It might be time for a neighborhood potluck.

Nearly as close as the epicenter of yesterday’s quake is Mount Baker, which is an active volcano. It is considered by the United States Geological Survey to be a “high-threat” volcano, which means it is likely to have a period of increased activity sometime in the future. Geology, however, is imprecise when it comes to predicting future timetables. Things are pretty calm on the mountain now, and I haven’t heard any predictions that it might erupt soon.

An offshore earthquake large enough to cause a tsunami is the most significant natural disaster threat for where we live. Since our home is right next to the designated tsunami assembly area, we’re sure we are high enough to escape the waves in the event of a tsunami. We think it is less likely that we will be directly affected by the tsunami and more likely that we will be called to help our friends and neighbors who live next to the bay. A well-stocked pantry seems like a good idea.

Other storms and threats might disrupt our retirement lifestyle. The tariffs set to go into effect today will likely increase the gas price and could affect the jobs of neighbors who work at the oil refinery near our home. The cost of some groceries will go up. On Saturday, I bought a case of mangoes from a vendor who drives his van up from California and sells fruit from a stand near our home. I’ve bought oranges from him before. The oranges come from California, but the mangoes come from Mexico. A 25% tariff means that the price of mangos would go up by $12.50 per box. That is probably enough to keep me from buying more, but it is more likely that the mangoes will disappear from his fruit stand. It will be a disappointment but hardly a disaster. Given the expected price increase, we may have to cut back on avocados as well.

I’m not much of a prepper. I don’t have an underground bunker and probably lack extreme survivalist techniques. I’m more likely to head to our son’s farm or church in case of a catastrophe. I’m more interested in being community-sufficient than self-sufficient. I have no desire to hole up in some shelter or head out in a “bug out” vehicle and worry about what is happening to my beloveds. Combining the resources we have in our pantry with the food available at our son’s farm, there is a lot to keep people going for quite a while. It would take us an hour to walk to the farm if our cars were inoperable, and I suppose it could take longer if the street were somehow damaged enough to make driving impossible. We’d have to add a few miles to the distance if a petroleum train were burning at the crossing between the two places. Then again, I ride an alternate route when I take my bike.

For now, I’m comfortable sleeping through little earthquakes. They don’t seem to wake me, which is good.